Judge Halts Construction On Partially-Built Target Store In Hollywood

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LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com/AP) — A judge has ordered Target Corp. to stop work on a partly built Hollywood store that exceeded height regulations.

Superior Court Judge Richard Fruin sided with two community groups who claimed that the 74-foot-tall structure located at 5220 Sunset Blvd. should have never been approved as the retailer’s plan was developed in a neighborhood where project size is restricted.

The court said the City Council must invalidate permits for the project and halt all construction.

KCAL9’s Laurie Perez spoke with city officials regarding the fate of the construction project.

Workers Thursday remained on-site even though a judge had ordered Target last week to stop construction.

Target has asked the 2nd District Court of Appeal to let work proceed so that opening remains on schedule. A foundation, walls and a roof have already been built.

In a statement, attorney Robert Silverstein hailed the legal victory and called the construction plan the latest in a “landscape of violations of the law in Hollywood”.

“The half-built Target store is a monument to City Hall’s contempt for the law,” said Silverstein. “The Target store fiasco is symptomatic of LA City Hall’s culture of backroom deal-making, secrecy and law-breaking.

A spokesperson for the City Attorney’s office told KNX 1070’s Claudia Peschiutta the allegation is without merit and they’re analyzing what, if any, work may continue on the complex.

Judge Halts Construction To Partially-Built Target Store In Hollywood

Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell said that he would have liked to see underground parking, which would have helped with the height problem.

“This is an area that needs economic revitalization, where the unemployment rate has been consistently well over 12-percent fort he past several years,” O’Farrell said. “We need the jobs, we need the economic activity.”

The City Council approved the project in June 2010 before legal taken by a handful of local parties eventually led to Target agreeing to submit to a full environmental impact report.

Silverstein said that he is going back to court to try and hold the city in contempt for not stopping the construction yet.

O’Farrell said that cutting the project now is not the right answer.

The size and scale of development is frequently a controversial issue in Hollywood.